Legacy Undone
by LD 1449
Summary: It was their last, desperate gambit. Their last hope. They pinned everything on a prayer that he could save them...and now...he's not even sure if he can make it count anymore.
1. Chapter 1

The war was over.

They had lost.

It hadn't crept up on them. It hadn't been sudden. Their defeat had not been a great plunge from the heights of uncertainty, where one battle, one event, turned the tide.

No. Theirs was the slow death. Victims to a constrictor. The relentless tide of tireless, once dead, foes pushing against the always dwindling resistance. 

More than the Shinobi world, human life itself, faced a slow, steady and implacable extinction.

Konoha...had been the first.

After Pein's attack, with no infrastructure to speak of, the village was weakest of all in terms of logistics.

Tobi had capitalized on that. Using the fact that Konoha had no records, no effective way to organize their forces other than word of mouth down from on high from the Hokage. With the administrative functions so invariably crippled, the leaf village soon collapsed, their ninja scattering to group with the other battle groups.

Iwa was next...after Onoki's death.

The old man was so dead set on keeping his seat until someone was worthy to replace him no one was actually _prepared_ to replace him when the moment came.

With all Jounin and Anbu on the front lines a coordinated effort from Iwagakure's elders couldn't be made to name a replacement. And by the time the new Tsuchikage -Kitsuchi- had received word of his anointment, the man was neck deep in an ambush and promptly killed.

The immovable rock, crumbled beneath the relentless flood.

Suna was next.

Gaara's power over the dune sea had proven absolute, even without the Shukaku. For thirty days the bulk of the enemy forces had descended on Sunagakure, and for thirty days the sand village held strong as the rest of the allies regrouped for one final push at the heart of this cancer.

Then...inevitably, the white messenger hawk had reached them.

They were out of time.

'A' had to move before the full force could regroup.

Only Bee returned from Amegakure. Half dead, carrying news of their defeat.

A was dead.

Now, only Kirigakure, its shores defended by a stretch of sea and its heart protected by dense fog, mountains and now, thanks to the seal masters work, relentless storms that made the oceans come alive with impossible fury like the famed whirlpools of Uzushiogakure.

This alone kept what little of humanity remained, safe.

For a time.

Tobi would not be denied though

Ten thousand of his creatures were cast back out into the sea. And a thousand more pushed forward.

Kiri fell.

And now, here they were, the very last vanguard, the most elite of the elite. Men that had survived endless, unremitting war for the better part of two years were guarding their very last, most desperate hope as the enemy forces pounded away at them.

* * *

It defied the very belief of all human limitations.

A marvel of the world.

Every manner of seal was calibrated to _perfection_.

_Impossibly _complex, combining, as a foundation, the recovered Uzumaki designs, coupled with sealing arrays from all corners of the Shinobi world for the single most intricate collaboration ever made between the Shinobi countries.

Barrier seals from Iwa, acceleration seals from Kumo, stabilization matrixes from Suna, space time arrays, derived from the summoning animals of Konoha, nature arrays from Kirigakure taken from the vaults of the shodaime, that had helped create the seven blades of the swordsmen and imbue them with their powers.

And lastly, an Uchiha seal array. One based on the displacement of time; derived from the Mangekyo's Tsukiyomi technique.

More delicate than any one thing ever made in this world, it was also the most powerful and their very last prayer for a miracle to deliver them from this _nightmare_.

* * *

"You have to stop! You've looked over it eight times already!"

"It has to be perfect." He answered back.

"I know but we have no time! Even if it you found something we can't change anything now. You have to-"

"It has to be perfect." He repeated, moving towards a different spot, eyes roving over the lines of ink spread out over a room half the size of the Hokage tower. Built three months ago for this exact purpose, the moment this project moved beyond the dreaming stage and became viable due to sheer desperation. "There can't be any mistakes. It has to be-!"

Naruto!" Sakura's hand shot out gripping him by the bicep and whirling him around to look at her. Bloodshot blue eyes staring into sea green. "Naruto listen to me! You have to stop! You need to focus now!" 

"But it has to be-"

"I know!" She shouted, interrupting him before her voice softened. "I know...But we're done. There are no more last minute fixes. We have to go with what we have now." 

"She's right dobe." Sasuke stepped out from the shadows dark eyes staring at his old teammates. "He's here. Point's five and six are down. Four is under attack and three is setting up its final defenses with Mei now. After that, all we'll have left, is the Hachibi."

"His name is Bee." Naruto snarled, looking over the array at his feet despite their words.

After a tug and a pull he marched off, moving towards his designated place on the seal, Sasuke and Sakura flanking him.

The gold shroud of the Kyuubi's chakra coated his body. From the tips of his hair down to his toes, the golden hue _surged _through him like a living flame for the first time in months. And it felt joyous.

The chakra bled into the seal, dark lines becoming clear, then shining with golden light. The brightness spreading over the whole room, as the chakra went into the seal on the floor to crawl up the walls into the arrays that had been drawn into the overhanging roof.

The world was light.

Chains sprouted from the walls, floor and ceiling. Nine chains meeting at the center before the bright flame of the Kyuubi's chakra spread into them, lighting them like tinder that did not burn as energy forked and split between the links to meet in the center.

The crackle of power sent goosebumps crawling up his arms. Like static electricity only without the harsh sting. He pushed his and Kurama's chakra into the seal willing this to _work. _It had to!

Then there was a tear.

All nine chains pulled taut, retreating back into their seals, link by agonizingly slow link, with the tear becoming wider and wider, the fabric of reality split open to reveal an abyss of..._impossibility._

It looked like an ocean of churning water in a storm, a spiral of black non light, a surface as still as a tombstone, the brightest of starlight the most vibrant of colors, all at the same time his mind unable or unwilling to attempt to _grasp_ even the _concept _of what he was looking at.

An _end_ to _infinity_.

"I can't believe we did it." He whispered to himself even knowing that this was the easy part.

Beside him Sakura threw a look.

Sasuke nodded.

In the next second Naruto's body was wrapped in a flutter of sealing note pages, with a single scroll coiling around his body.

"What?" He asked, startled as the golden chakra receded back into his seal.

He hunched forward, the sudden loss of strength leaving him as he saw the dark, fiery body of the Susanoo form up around him like the walls of an impenetrable fortress. "Sasuke!?" He turned his head to look at the Uchiha! "What're you doing?"

"What we have to." He answered.

"We have to get you through." Sakura said walking up beside him.

He turned looking at her, his mind processing what they were saying, a slowly creeping horror dawning on his features.

"No..." He whispered...demanded. "No! You said that-"

"I lied." She confessed sadly. "My calculations always showed that you nor Kyuubi, would ever have the power to pull yourself and us back far enough to make enough of a difference. You just pulling back yourself...you'd only be able to get yourself to the very beginning of the war."

Naruto's wide, unblinking eyes percolated with tears his face slack with dumb shock even as Sasuke stepped infront of him, his back to the Jinchuuriki, facing the doorway.

"All our research shows every step is an exponential increase." The Uchiha said. "At the first step, you only take one day. On the second two. On the third four. Fifth eight and so on. There are four thousand, three hundred an eighty days in twelve years With the exponential growth, we need _eleven_ steps.

"We can make that!" The blond cried, struggling in his bonds before turning to Sakura, a look of such betrayal in his eyes she felt her heart clench in her chest. "You _told _me I could make that!

"I lied." She repeated.

"So how many can I make?" If he was close...then

"At the very _best_ estimates...you can only make eight...and that's if all our calculations are on the marker. We could be completely wrong."

He shook his head, the tears dripping down his cheeks to fall off his chin. "No...No...I'll get you there!" I'll _get _**you** _there_! Sakura!"

She shook her head, a brittle smile tugging at her lips "Naruto." She sighed... "You don't know how much..."

There were the sounds of shouts now. Of battle reaching in through the outside walls.

"We have no time!" Sasuke demanded, turning to give her a look over his shoulder.

She nodded, turning away from Naruto to march infront of Sasuke as the Uchiha reached out, both hands, one to grip her shoulder, the other to grip Naruto's.

She reached down, a burst of chakra into the activation rune as tattoos spread from the seal on her forehead to spread over her skin.

She did not have years worth of chakra like Tsunade-sama. Just barely one...it would have to be enough.

The doorway, held open by the nine chains, thrummed with power, the nine links spinning like a typhoon, faster and faster the seals at their feet becoming brighter.

Then they were somewhere else.

On the edge of nothingness...

Sakura felt ground under her feet, sweat beading at her brow as the very perception of all her five senses were thrown completely askew.

Heat, light, dark, up, down, nothing conformed to her ability to comprehend. She closed her eyes focusing on Sasuke's hand on her shoulder and ignoring Naruto's struggles in his atempts to escape his restraints.

She stood nowhere, and everywhere. Her chakra, her tether of life, anchoring her to this place like she would tether herself to the side of a tree, or on a wall. That was the only way it could work. Once she was finished...Sasuke would begin to do the same, so that he could navigate this place that led to nowhere, and everywhere at once. This vast void of nothingness that held the whole of everything within your reach and just beyond.

She took one step forward, tugging Sasuke with her, and felt her Chakra _drain_ out of her. As though the very breath of life fled her body, she hunched over, vomiting, even as her feet stayed rooted to the ground, not daring to move.

She felt Sasuke grip her shoulder, her chakra flowing into him, feeding the massive construct known as Susanoo in his place.

"Sakura!" She heard Naruto shout, no doubt struggling even more.

She didn't dare look back. Didn't dare look at the hurt, desperate look in his eyes.

She tried to smile...

It was a brittle thing.

"Sayonara. Sasuke...Naruto..."

She felt the Uchiha's hand squeeze her shoulder.

She took one more step.

The last of her chakra drained from her body.

She died with barely the whisper of a final breath, the final tether of life sapped from her body as she took a single step into nowhere and she faded into the nothingness of the void of time.

Sasuke's chakra surged, and the Uchiha could now feel his feet touch the 'ground, tugged into this place in the expanse of time by his now dead...or was it perhaps lost, teammate.

"_Damnit_!" The Uchiha ignored Naruto's curse, eyes staring straight ahead.

"Three." He breathed, taking one more step

Instantly, a massive crack thundered through the skull of Susanoo, and Sasuke felt his chakra get _sapped_ from him just like Sakura had. His massive reserves would hold out for another two steps under the aegis of the legendary ninjutsu...three if he were lucky.

"Four." He said.

One more step, and this time the flames of Susanoo's body dimmed, becoming little more then embers leaving only the raw chakra construct exposed, with another crack spearing down its chest. Sasuke hissed, reeling as his eyes bled and fire spread through his insides.

"That's enough!" Naruto growled, his voice obviously choked. "That's four! I can get you the rest of the way! Stop!"

The Uchiha shook his head, eyes bleeding now though Naruto couldn't see it. "Have to...make sure...dobe."

One more step. This time the legendary construct began crumbling away, the last of the flames dying as the chakra armor was peeled free. Sasuke hunched over, coughing up dark red blood that turned to dust on the winds of time.

"Stop it Sasuke!" Naruto shouted. "I'll take you just...get me **out **of this!"

The Uchiha sighed coughing wetly. "We..could have miscalculated Naruto...we have nothing to-"

"I don't _**care**_!" He roared, wisps of gold emerging between the seals as Sasuke's chakra waned dangerously on the restraints. "Let me _**OUT**_!

Sasuke turned to look over his shoulder, staring with bloody tears at the struggling blond even as he dragged him.

The Uchiha smirked...

It was a brittle thing.

"For what its worth..." He paused, visibly choking down the words.

Cursed pride

"I always did have to carry your sorry ass through..."

Before the shout even escaped Naruto's throat Sasuke took that one final step.

Susanoo burst into shards of light, unlike Sakura, girded from the worst of this place by the legendary sword and shield of the Mangekyo; allowed to fade away into this place beyond time, Sasuke had no such defense now and Naruto watched the Uchiha get ripped to _pieces_. Like a great sand storm had swept in and peeled the flesh clean off his body before grinding the bones to dust.

The paper around him fell away crumbling to sand, the Kyuubi's chakra, so desperate to escape, roared to life as the blond cried. Howling into the void as he clutched at his head screaming in wild agony.

All of them...They were...all of them...

Every last _one_ of his precious people!

He cried clutching and pulling at his hair as he screamed at nothing...at everything.

Rage, hatred, sadness... despair.

They rushed through him too powerful to resist, too fast to feel. All he knew was _**pain**_.

"_**You have to move Naruto."**_

The blond didn't respond, still staring at the place in this black abyss that he'd last seen Sasuke, sobbing as he bit his lip hard enough to bleed, the blood crystallizing frozen as it was swept away.

"_**Naruto..." **_Kyuubi prodded, his voice a low rumble. **_"You have to keep moving now."_**

The blond swallowed. Fat tears evaporating as they escaped his tear-ducts.

He took one step. He felt the same enormous drain they had

He took one more. Now...the cloak flickered.

When he took his third, the golden hue of his aura, vanished, leaving only red, eight tails trailing behind him.

He took one more.

Two tails receded back into him.

"_Kyuubi?"_

"_**They were right...there was one thing we did not take into account."**_

"_What?"_

"_**The temporal displacement...between us...and the seal. Eleven paces in physical distance...years time difference. My**_**_chakra must push through the years to reach it. Three paces left, six tails..._**

Naruto swallowed. Too numb to do much more.

"_Are we going to die?"_

…

"_**No. Walk."**_

He took another step.

Three tails vanished

Nine paces.

One more.

The last of the Kitsune's tails receded back into him, the chakra shroud of the nine tails vanishing leaving Naruto's flesh to peel away, only to reform in patches and bursts of healing.

The blond grit his teeth, hissing as he kept his feet firmly planted in this place. Not daring to move one more step.

"_Kyuubi?"_

"_**Move. Stupid Ningen."**_

"_Its you...you're going to die here too...aren't you?"_

…

"_Kyuubi?"_

"_**Take your step boy."**_

* * *

He opened his eyes to a ceiling he hadn't seen for what felt like a life time.

For a window of eternity, he stared into that chipped, water bubble paint, smelling his poorly washed sheets, listening to the sounds of Konoha's early morning, utterly motionless.

When he finally moved, the sun was rising along the horizon filtering light in through the blinds of his window.

His feet touched the floor, all too small, the leap a little too high. He stumbled, wobbling on unsure legs.

He stared at his hands, at himself as best he could. Then he kept walking.

When he made it to the bathroom he found a stepping stool.

The same, stupid stepping stool he had thrown in a corner somewhere never to use again after he hit seven...

It was right there. Waiting to be used now.

He looked...up at his bathroom counter, stepping onto the stool.

He looked in the mirror, staring back at his face.

His four year old face.

Like he'd been in his bed, he remained motionless, staring for the longest time at this reflection that shouldn't be. At this thing that was just so wrong...

_Kyuubi?_

…

…

_Kyuubi?_

…

His eyes glimmered, percolating with tears that didn't quite fall yet as he stared into this stranger in a strange house.

_Please say something to me..._

He never noticed himself crying, never noticed his legs give out never noticed himself falling onto the floor, never noticed his choking sobs or his hysterical screams. He didn't even notice when Inu barged into the room, grabbing him and holding him close as he shouted out orders to the rest of the squad.

All he could notice...was how quiet it was...

* * *

I honestly wasn't gonna start this one for a while, at least not until I'd finished Souls of Heroes but a bolt of inspiration hit me and the ideas just wouldn't stop coming so I gave into the temptation.

I'm not sure yet what the update rate will be since I really *do* wanna update Souls of heroes and complete it so lets just play it by ear. Could be fast, could be a little slow. We'll see.

At any rate, this story will not be your typical Naruto goes back in time tale though I'll let the surprises reveal themselves as we go along.

Lastly, the pairing will be put up for a vote for the first time in a long time. I will make a poll with the possible options at a later date once the story gets on its two feet and we'll see where we go from there.

Hope you all enjoyed it, R&R


	2. Chapter 2

"What happened." The Sandaime Hokage asked as he marched through the white halls of the Konoha hospital.

"Unknown." Inu replied. "He slept as usual, woke up, marched to the bathroom then he started screaming."

The legendary Shinobi shot off question after question as he walked barely waiting for the response to be over before launching into his next one.

"Genjutsu?"

"None that I could detect?"

"Poison's? Hallucinogens?"

"Initial results are negative. More thorough testing is being conducted as we speak Hokage-sama."

"Current status? The seal's integrity?"

"Stable as far as we can tell, on both counts though we've called in the expert in order to verify."

The old monkey nodded, about to ask another question before he heard the sound of a struggle. His and Inu's heads jerked up ever so slightly before they were both rushing down the hallway, the Anbu's sword emerging from its scabbard with a glint of polished steel.

The door was thrown open to reveal two nurses, a doctor and four Anbu lined up infront of them, forming a semi-circle around a blond child clutching a surgical blade to his chest.

"What happened?" Hiruzen questioned, his voice unchanged from its usual calm tone.

"He woke up and started struggling Hokage-sama." One of the Anbu answered. "He took doctor Koku's scalpel from his coat pocket."

"Cut me good when I tried to grab him too." Another Anbu, a younger one, said, showing off the blood drenched glove on his left hand, an open gash in his palm. "He's fast."

"Old man?"

The Jinchuuriki's frightened voice brought Saru's eyes to him, the soft brown orbs softening their placid look to one of mild concern.

He stepped forward, past the line of people to get in close to the boy before he knelt infront of him. "Naruto-chan." He cooed at the four year old holding out his hand. "Naruto-chan come here."

The boy's white knuckled grip on the surgical knife tightened even further, and for a brief instant he thought the child might actually try to strike out at him.

Then the boy launched himself forward with a hysterical cry hugging the Sandaime so fiercely Sarutobi could actually feel his robe ready to tear as the toddler cried into his chest babbling nonsense he couldn't understand.

Only one thing stood out.

_'They're gone! They're all gone!'_

Who _they_ were and where _they_ could have gone the Hokage didn't hold the foggiest notion. Picking up the boy he whispered softly trying to calm him as he stared straight at Inu, his top Anbu already taking up the assignment as he signaled orders to his men. Naruto's apartment and habitual locations would be searched thoroughly for any clues that could be found.

Waving the doctor away Sarutobi commandeered a stiff backed chair, settling himself down with Naruto still crying all over him. The Sandaime took a breath, letting himself sigh as he waited for the boy's hysterics to calm.

He shouldn't have been surprised when Naruto's sniffles finally faded into restless sleep, the boy's features scrunched up in discomfort. He considered waking him but in the end decided it'd be best to simply ask the boy tomorrow. He doubted he'd just forget.

Suddenly the door opened, revealing Sarutobi's old student, bringing a weary smile to the aging Kage's face.

"Is he alright?" The sannin asked stepping into the room and plucking the child out of Sarutobi's arms to place him on the bed, hands raising his shirt to find the seal on his navel.

"Physically he's fine...but as for what happened to trigger these emotions we cannot say." Sarutobi admitted. "Half of me is starting to think this was just one very vivid nightmare- perhaps I should call-"

"This was no nightmare." His student flatly interrupted.

That turned Sarutobi's face into hard, chiseled stone. All laxity vanishing at the man's voice. "What's wrong?"

"The seal's empty. The Kyuubi's gone."

-0-

It was twenty minutes later that Sarutobi found himself marching into the bowel's of Konoha's interrogation department, Naruto lay blissfully asleep, wheeled through on a hospital bed, kept unconscious by influence of a genjutsu.

This day had gone from routine, to worrying, to downright terrifying and he needed _answers _and he needed them _now!_

Out of a side hallway Inoichi, half delirious still waking from whatever sleep his men had dragged him out of stumbled into view, still visibly trying to get his bearings before Sarutobi grabbed him by the shoulder and all but shoved him towards the direction they were walking.

"Prepare yourself for a mind walk." The Hokage demanded brusquely. "I need to know what he's done, I need to know where he's been who he's been with, what he's been eating right down to how many times the boy's breathed today Inoichi."

Knowing better than to argue, the Yamanaka clan head simply nodded, following the group in his sleepwear.

By the time they reached the chamber Inoichi was fully awake, barely even taking his place at the foot of the bed before he formed his handseals.

Three seconds later his eyes opened, a bewildered expression decorating his face.

"What's wrong?

"His...brain...its..." The elder Yamanaka actually seemed to be struggling to find the words. "Twisted."

"What exactly does that mean?"

"Its like...pretend his mind is a stick straight and thin, you follow it in one direction and leave in one direction. Now toss a hundred other sticks that look and feel the same but with subtle differences, ontop of it, group em together, mix em up and now try to find the exact same stick you had originally. It'll be near impossible.

"What could do that."

"I have no idea."

"Then _get _an idea! I have a continent's worth of suspects right now and I need that list narrowed. So either think of something or walk in there and find out what happened!"

"I can't do a mind walk like this. I follow the memories then follow them back. Trying to go in here I'd risk just trailing off the 'path' so to speak, in either going forward, or coming back. It could lead to false information, me getting stuck in his subconscious psyche for far longer than would be healthy for either of us. And that's just the better outcomes of a botched mind walk. Whoever your looking for evidently knows enough about Yamanaka clan techniques to devise this pretty ingenious counter. Its as though someone fabricated an entirely new psyche and drove it into his skull. My suggestion is to look through any records you have regarding people that know mind manipulation techniques."

"And pray its not something someone came up with on their own." The professor all but hissed before turning to look at the Anbu to his left. "Tell Inu to widen his search parameters to include long term village residents, this could be a domestic case where someone found access to the Yamanaka clan scrolls."

Inoichi gulped, catching the Hokage's eye but not daring to say a single thing. The message was clear.

His clan was now under heavy scrutiny as well.

If something didn't fall into its place in the investigation...well...he didn't really want to think about that.

Just then another of the Anbu had the courtesy to step into the room in full view before approaching the Hokage.

"Sir we've discovered something."

"Speak."

"The village barrier teams reported an anomaly. Their most sensitive sensor nin could feel it for an instant. They couldn't identify what it was but-"

"Investigate further. Cross reference with patrol groups of chuunin see if anyone reported anything odd last night."

"At once."

"Hokage-sama." Inoichi stepped forward. "We should tread very carefully with Uzumaki-san. If I'm right and this new...fabrication of memories is right on top of his old ones he could be very confused when he wakes up."

"That would explain why he attacked one of my Anbu." The Sandaime hummed.

"Soon enough his real memories should prove more formidable than these new fabrications but until then his behavior might be a little erratic. I suggest when he wakes up you be there, along with some familiar faces if possible."

The aging Hokage nodded. "I'll see to it Inoichi."

-0-

The cage is empty.

The massive bars that had loomed over him years ago when he first stepped foot into this place, still stand.

Only they hold vigil over a hollow.

There is nothing within. There is only the churning water beneath his feet, the echoes of its sound bouncing off the cold walls.

He cannot see Kurama. He cannot hear him.

He can't even feel an echo of his presence.

His friend is gone without so much as a footprint to have ever indicated he was here.

-0-

When Naruto opened his eyes the sun was already high in the sky, the light filtering in from the outside world.

He pushed himself up to a sitting position, groaning at the stiff soreness in his joints and muscles. Rubbing at puffy, tear crusted eyes as his thoughts tried to organize themselves.

He looked down, at his too small hands, looked at this room that just seemed too big.

He was here. He was alive and he was here...

And they were all gone.

Why hadn't they told him?

Why?

He could have tried to push the channeling seals more! Refined the displacement matrix, tried to integrate some kind of chakra storage seal into the design!

He could have done **something!**

Why didn't they _fucking_ _tell_ him!

His hands clenched into tight fists. A white knuckled grip as his fingers clench so hard his nails threaten to break the skin...

But only threaten...

He can't even do that anymore.

He sobs, the fury and strength leeched out of him, leaving only despair.

Not even Kurama...

And now he's here.

Alone again...

There's a hand grasping his and Naruto jerks, startled to realize someone had snuck up on him.

It'd been a while since people could do that.

He looks up, expecting to see a nurse only to find a surprising face.

"Baa-chan!?"

Tsunade, as young and beautiful as ever, frowned. "What happened to Tsunade nee Naru-chan?"

Naruto blinked, confused. He'd never known Tsunade when he was a kid!

Did he?

The blond woman's lips pursed. "These memory issues must be pretty bad." She muttered to herself before sitting down on the bed at his feet. "What do you remember about me kiddo?" She asked even as her hands glowed with that familiar scanning technique as she hovered her hands over him.

"Uhh...you're Tsunade-baa...err...nee?"

She nodded, chocolate orbs observing him carefully.

"And you-" He paused, noticing something. "Hey where's your necklace?"

The slug sannin blinked. "My what now?"

"Your necklace! That green jewel! The Shodaime's necklace where is it!? I don't have it so you should!"

"Naruto that necklace belongs to Dan. You've seen him wearing it forever."

Naruto felt himself reeling, straightening on the bed as he stared at her. "That Dan guy's alive?'

Now it was Tsunade who's face seemed to go slack with shock. "That Dan...Naruto, he took you and Shizune to see Koyuki Kazahna's latest movie last week!"

The two sat in mutual disbelief for a moment before Tsunade huffed, resuming her scan. "When they find whoever screwed with you kiddo they better give me ten good minutes alone with 'em."

Naruto sat confused and bewildered. Now he _knew _something was wrong! Even if Tsunade hadn't left until after he was born, something he highly doubted, and they simply hadn't met before there was _no way_ that Dan guy should still be alive right now!

His mind wandered back, trying to recall all that was said when they were designing the seal. Wishing, not for the last time that he could have _someone_ smarter than him that he could talk with!

They were supposed to be a_ team_!

Could...could things have changed?

Sasuke, Sakura and he spent months talking about all the changes any misstep could bring...but their discussions had only been about changes _after_ the point of their arrival, not before.

But could just them coming back in the first place, by itself, change things?

It was unnatural! Something like this had never happened before so trying to theorize about its effects had been something akin to shooting at the sky praying to hit something on the way down.

It'd been a miracle they got as close as they did.

If things had changed, how many? How far? How drastic? How the hell could he prepare for Tobi or Obito or whatever the hell he called himself without his friends? without Kurama? And without even the goddamn security of at least having an idea about what could happen!?

"Naruto!"

He came back to the waking world with Tsunade hovering over him, his heart pounding in his chest and blood rushing through his ears, the gentle eddies of her healing chakra washing over his small body

"What the hell is wrong with you?"

"I have to get out of here!" He said moving to sit up again when Tsunade's hand shoved him back down.

"You're a four year old kid who all but had a panic attack not two feet away from me! You're not going anywhere until you explain what you're thinking about right now!"

He let out a laugh, a quick bubble of hysteria that threatened to keep going before he reigned it in.

Explain?!

Oh yeah he'll get right on that! Just give him twelve years to get back to the point they've got to do this again and he'll jot down all his notes for her!

He laughed a little more.

Tsunade's face showed genuine concern. "Come on kid stop. You're really scaring me now!"

That sobered him up, but the lack of illogical euphoria left him only with the crushing anxiety of this whole debacle. "I'm sorry baa...nee-chan."

-0-

"We've found nothing."

"That's not like you Inu. Do you need another twenty four hours?"

"There is nothing Hokage-sama." Inu assured. "He spoke to no one unusual, the toxicology reports came back negative, Hyuuga have looked over his chakra network to check for any recent manipulations, all visitors within the last week have checked out, everyone he spoke to checked out. The only lead we have to go on is that minor barrier fluctuation and no one in the corps knows what that could be."

"I cannot ask you to stop searching."

"I understand. I'm just informing you that at this stage, the likelyhood of us finding anything is nearly negligible.

"Just do everything possible. Leave nothing unturned. In the meantime I want you to devote yourself and your best ANBU to guard Naruto at all times until further notice. You'll work in shifts. The rest of your men, will hunt down a list of all possible mind manipulators outside of Konoha. Someone on this continent knows _something!"_

"Understood." Inu vanished in a swirl of leaves.

"You're pushing him hard." The Sandaime's second and remaining student commented with a grin as he stepped out of a nearby wall with a smirk.

Sarutobi kept walking, approaching the door. "There has to be an explanation. If not, they managed to infiltrate every layer of our village defenses completely undetected. Even I would have trouble to do something like that and I designed the system!"

-0-

Her eyes moved to the door for a second and it was enough to warn Naruto that someone else was coming a second before the door opened.

"-not they managed to infiltrate every layer of our village defenses completely undetected. Even I would have trouble to do something like that and I designed the system!" The Sandaime said to someone before stepping into the room, smiling gently at the boy on the bed. "Naruto-chan."

Naruto smiled, genuine relief filling his face at something wholly familiar and long missed. "Jiji!"

Then the smile dropped from his face, the fear gripping him as the unmistakeable form of the snake sannin stepped through the doorways, a gentle little smile tugging at his own features. "Hello Naruto-kun."

It didn't take Inoichi to see the sudden tension that gripped the boy, and it was Tsunade that spoke. "Naruto...you remember Oro-kun don't you?"

Naruto licked his lips, swallowing as he nodded still glaring at the man. "I do."

Tsunade frowned. Turning to look over her shoulder. "These memory issues seem to range and, whoever did this was really good."

"Other than his hostility to me what other odd behavior has he shown?" The snake sannin questioned, crossing his arms with one hand on his chin, curious.

"He thought Dan was dead, seems to have completely forgotten about him..like he never even existed for the last four years."

That made the snake sannin raise a slender eyebrow.

Tsunade nodded. "My reaction too. The only one who's memory seems to be unaltered is sensei. Even that might not be true on further inquiry."

"Be glad sensei. Your enemies haven't stooped so low as to turn the aggression of a toddler on you."

Sarutobi gave a short chuckle from somewhere in his throat.

"Ok look." Naruto said scratching at his head in frustration. "I remember Ero-sennin so lets just bring him here too!"

"Ero-who-now?" Tsunade glared.

"Jiraiya!"

Immediately, Naruto knew something was wrong. All three of the rooms occupants went stiff with shock, Tsunade went pale and even Orochimaru seemed as though he'd just been sucker punched.

"Naruto..." Sarutobi began, choking on the words. "Jiraiya's been dead for almost twenty years."

-0-

Whelp here ya go! [:


	3. Chapter 3

He was dead.

Dead killing Hattori Hanzo

The "True Shinobi" of Ame and the last Toad Sage, cut each-other down in the final days of the last great war.

He'd asked how but neither Tsunade nor Orochi-teme seemed to be willing to cough up information.

So he'd gone to the library hoping to find something on public record.

He found very little. The bare bones of a romanticized account that depicted the old pervert fighting Hanzo to the end in order to defend his injured teammates.

In the end they mannaged to kill eachother...

If he didn't know any better he'd say the old bastard wrote it himself.

He sniffed, closing the book with a snap before pushing it aside.

Shinobi records were sealed...and public records sucked they didn't say how he died...what techniques were used they didn't even say where the man was burried...

He pulled closer another book.

This one on history.

He needed to find out just how many things stayed the same and how far this 'ripple effect' thing went.

-0-

"Jiraiya!?"

"Calm down!"

"You fucking calm down!" she screeched, still pacing the length of the Sarutobi's office. "Someone stuck...they...how the hell did they-"

"Just shut up!" The snake sannin barked, his own agitation shining through. "Lets stop and think before you bust down ten walls with no purpose and actually make _use_ of this."

"Indeed." Sarutobi agreed, stepping into his office, a file under his arm. "Naruto-chan's revelation narrows down our list of suspects considerably."

"Anyone who was close enough to Jiraiya to know his personality and appearance." The snake surmised.

"Exactly." He opened the file as he sat down. "That almost certainly means a domestic enemy."

"We'll look into it" Tsunade assured, her clenched fists cracking as she tightened her grip. Saru would pity whomever they eventually tracked down, if he didn't feel exactly the same way.

To use Jiraiya to twist a boy's memories and simultaneously betray the village...

This person, whoever he or she was, had gained three very powerful enemies.

"I'll be making some inquiries into my spies from Ame in the meanwhile." Orochimaru nodded. "Many of their countrymen still hold a great hatred for what Jiraiya did and could have strove to do something like this."

"Do it. Even if you run a dead end we've been too lax on Ame's activities recently. We need more intel. Either way I'll make my next statement to both of you, in your mutual investigations, do not forget about Naruto himself. He'll need our help after what he's experienced and I can't be there as often as I'd like. You two were always close with him. Have faith that he'll remember that soon."

Tsunade nodded. "Yeah. I'll bring Dan to see him when he gets back maybe that'll jog something."

Orochimaru smirked. "He might throw one of his toy kunai at me if I get too close."

"Getting scared of a toddler Oro-kun?" The female in the room laughed.

"Terrified" He quipped smiling for a moment before becoming serious again. "Don't worry sensei, the boy's strong for his age. He'll be fine. In a few days he'll be right back to normal."

"I hope so." The old monkey confessed as he lit his pipe, then he waved them both away. "Go. You have your orders."

-0-

"Taichou."

Inu's head turned ever so slightly finding the new arrival through the slit eyeholes of his mask. "You're here early."

"Before I assume my duties, it would be best if I were fully briefed on the situation." She said, kneeling beside him assuming a perch on the tall library bookshelf to look down at the for year old child.

"He's suffering memory issues...and we might be seeing the first ramifications of it."

"How so?" She asked.

"When was the last time you saw a four year old reading through history books in the library?"

"Hmm."

"Furthermore he's comprehending. Evidently the experience of these false memories might have given him an increased intelligence."

"Our experiences shape us." She affirmed. "Adding experiences, even false ones, must have affected him."

Inu nodded, then leaned a little forward. "Looks like he found something that doesn't really match up with what he knew."

The blond boy picked up the heavy book, struggling with its weight as he all but ran towards the librarian's desk.

-0-

"Is this right!?" Naruto all but shouted, pushing the book up onto the desk, startling the elderly man sitting by piece of furniture.

The older man blinked, pushing his thick reading glasses onto the bridge of his nose leaning forward and taking the book in hand. "Err, which part young man?"

Naruto marched around the desk pushing through the swiveling doors to stand next to the man as he brought the book down to his eye level.

He pointed a little finger, pressing it against a paragraph.

"This part right here!"

The man brought the book close to his face, reading over the identified paragraph.

After a moment the man nodded. "Yes it is. What seems to be the problem?"

Naruto swallowed, smiling after a moment as he held out his hand to take back the book. "Nothing...just wanted to make sure!"

The old man nodded, handing the book back.

-0-

Inu's head tilted. "Wonder what he found that's so interesting..."

The woman beside him shrugged. "We can find out later."

He nodded, his body beginning to vanish into wisps of smoke. "I'll leave to get some rest, be seeing you."

She set herself onto a more comfortable position watching as the little blond sat down once again in his previous seat.

-0-

Naruto meanwhile smiled as he sat down, reading over the paragraph once again just for that smile to stay on his face.

"_It was Hashirama Senjuu and Uchiha Madara that founded Konoha, allying the powerful Senjuu and Uchiha clans and uniting the clans that were based around the continent's central region. While their respective Mokudon and Sharingan bloodlines were extremely powerful, it does not appear at this time that any of their descendents have inherited their Kekei-Genkai!"_

An Uchiha clan without the Sharingan?

It was no guarantee Tobi hadn't manifested the thing or stolen it but this had the potential to make things far less complicated!

He kept on reading.

-0-

It was night when he finally stepped out of the libraries halls, shivering in the cold evening air, regretting the fact that he hadn't brought a jacket with him.

Suddenly he felt a weight settle on his shoulders stumbling forward a little as it settled before he looked to see someone had placed a thick, orange coat over his shoulders.

He looked to thank whoever it was when the words died on his lips, replaced by a frown and a glare.

Orochimaru raised a slender eyebrow. "Should I assume you don't like this coat anymore?" He asked, a note of glibness in his tone.

"What are you doing here?"

"When I heard you were out here without a coat I was behooved to bring one to you."

Naruto blinked. "Behooved by who?"

"Tsunade of course." He pointed and Naruto turned to look, finding a slug resting on the branch of a nearby tree. "She's busy at the hospital or she would have come herself." He commented. "Come. I'll walk you home and you can answer some of my questions. One of which being how you know what '_behoove_' means?"

"No thanks." Naruto said turning to walk the long way home. "I'll-"

Snakes slithered around his waist, coiling tightly and lifting, leaving his little legs dangling in the air.

"I insist, lets talk you and I." The snake drawled, pulling him up to his side as he marched down the road.

The youth struggled, hands pulling and pushing at the snakes but with the limbs of a four year old he might as well have been trying to bend steel.

"So what did they stick in your head that's gotten you so riled up about me Naruto-kun?" He asked as though commenting n the encroaching winter.

"You're a creepy bastard, that's what! Let me out of this."

"Evidently they also taught you some more colorful words to go along with _'behooved' _to your limited repertoire. Alright then. Lets not talk about me. What fabrications did they stick in your head about Jiraiya?"

"What's it matter to you anyway!?" Naruto glowered, arms crossed now, having given up on freeing himself. "Don't pretend like you gave a da-"

Orochimaru stopped, standing still in the road as he turned to look at Naruto, the serpentine yellow eyes boring a hole into the boys skull.

"Naruto-kun. You're young, and confused. You can count that as your saving grace or you'd be in a great deal of pain right now."

The blond met the serpent's gaze blinking in curious bewilderment.

Orochimaru turned and kept on walking, waiting for a moment before speaking again. "Now tell me. What was it they stuck in that head of yours about Jiraiya?"

Naruto looked down considering whether he should answer or not.

Finally, he did speak. "Ero-sennin was always peeping on girls in the hotsprings."

"Hah!" The snake barked out a laugh. "That does sound like him. What did he look like in these memories of yours?"

"Big, taller than anyone else in the village, 'cept maybe Chouji's dad-"

"Chouji?"

"Akimichi."

"Ahh."

"-white hair that he could make into a personal shield. Dressed up like a kabuki, wood sandals and everything."

A smirk graced the pale man's face one born of seemingly fond remembrance.

"He was also the first one that taught me the water walking and summoning-"

Orochimaru stopped again, turning to look at him. "Taught you? You learned how to manipulate chakra?"

That made Naruto pause hesitating for a moment before his mind came to a hasty decision, a quick plan forming in his head as he deduced where this could lead.

"Yeah!"

The snakes set him down, uncoiling from his waist.

"Show me." The man demanded.

With a thought Naruto pushed chakra to his feet

-0-

Seeing that her charge was in the safe hands of Konoha's snake summoner, the young woman that had been tailing them pulled away, doubling back towards the librarian who was beginning to gather his things as she approached, making as much noise as possible so as to not give the man a heart attack.

When he looked up, he was visibly startled to see one of Konoha's normally unseen special operators standing infront of him.

"The boy who was here. He asked you about a book, what was he inquiring about?"

-0-

Naruto struggled to focus, his underdeveloped coils trying to adapt to this new strain he was putting on them. He raised up his foot, about to place it on the wall before the sannin's voice stopped him.

"You're using too much."

"This is what I always used." He protested putting his foot down.

"Your memories are on the right track...but your body doesn't know what its doing." He shot back placing a hand on his chin. "Still...this is interesting. You mentioned summoning, show me the seals."

And Naruto formed them, watching Orochimaru's curious face as he did.

The sannin knelt, getting himself at eye level with the youth pulling out a kunai from his pouch and offering it hilt first.

"How well can you throw one of these?"

Naruto grinned and Orochimaru could tell it was false. The boy was manipulating him...or trying to. Failing miserably but the effort was there "How bout you and I make a deal?" He asked.

The snake raised a slender eyebrow he had a feeling he knew where this was going.

-0-

It was the next morning that Sarutobi found himself in his office, reading over a series of files discussing a zoning dispute between the Hyuuga and the Akimichi clans when the door to his office opened, revealing his pale skinned student.

"Orochimaru, what can I do for you?"

Not mincing words the man smirked in that familiar way of his. "I'm here to nominate Uzumaki Naruto for early academy enrollment."

-0-

Alright, my next update will definitely be for Souls of Heroes, BUT in regards to this one since I can already hear the questions.

No, Naruto doesn't like or trust Orochimaru he wants into the academy early, and with sponsorship, in my mind, would be the only way to get it. Orochimaru, he figured was his quickest way to get there since Saru and Tsunade would be too concerned for his safety.

He wants to get into the academy early so he can rise through the ranks early. I've always noticed in a lot of time travel fics Naruto tries to adhere to what happened originally so he can predict what will happen and change specifically what he wants to change, but seeing as how the whole "able to predict the future thing" was thrown into the meat-grinder at go, now what he wants is the freedom to move through the village and get what he needs, as fast as he needs to get it, which a gennin, much less an academy student would never be able to do since they either A. wouldn't have the clearance for it or B. Wouldn't have the skill or knowledge to acquire it without being seen which he definitely can't do since he can't even mold chakra at the moment.

So yeah, like I said a lot of things will change and this won't be the typical Time travel style fic.

PS: Also, this is the only story I've ever witnessed get more reviews on the second chap than it did on the first chap. Mention Jiraiya dead and everyone just looses their minds!


	4. Chapter 4

Officially, nominating a child for early academy enrollment was not, in truth, that big of a deal.

The child had been discovered to possess a high degree of proficiency or raw talent in one or various Shinobi arts and, as a military state, the village policy was to hone these abilities early so as not to let them go to waste or be lost due to a normal civilian life being unable to nurse these prodigious talents adecuately.

Unofficially, Naruto was discovering, it was like paining a neon sign over the kids head.

He should have guessed really. The two people he knew about from his time period that had gotten an early nomination were Kakashi-sensei and Itachi, and both were comparable monsters when measured against the run of the mill Shinobi.

It wasn't done often, not only was it difficult to find a child with actual talent beyond mere hopes and dreams but the person that nominated them risked a lot of his own reputation/prestige. If the nominee turned out to be average or worse yet, sub par, or even injured in the tests of the academy then that person was branded, at the bare minimum, reckless.

Both Itachi and Kakashi had been nominated by members of their own families.

But he, the resident Jinchuuriki being nominated by the 'recluse' that was the snake sannin had come, as far as most could tell, completely out of left field and made a lot of civilians and quite a few Shinobi curious and rumors were already starting to float around.

None of which were true. Naruto wouldn't trust that serpent as far as he could throw him, which in his present state wasn't very far at all.

The only reason he'd chosen him over the others was because...well...he was _there_.

And now he was in a rush.

He had to start climbing the shinobi ladder early. The higher his rank the more techniques he'd have access to, the more doors he'd be able to open, the more clearance he'd have. More clearance meant more information and he needed _information_.

That was the key to finding Tobi.

He only knew the vaguest of Tobi's acts before the war had broken out. It hadn't mattered to him where the hell the Uchiha had come from, only what he could do to stop him. And by the time their little plan of going back in time saw itself pushed from the aspect of pipe dream to _necessity_ anyone that could have possibly answered such questions were long since dead or enemies...or both.

And more than that he needed to get to Tobi before he managed to achieve the insane level of strength he'd gotten during the war. He needed to warn the Jinchuuriki about him. Him and maybe Akatsuki too if they still existed.

He finished off his breakfast, tossing the dish in the sink, promising to clean it out later before he made for the door, ready to leave when he heard a knock.

He paused, blinking, wondering who it would be as he reached for the kunai and Shuriken pouches to strap them on. They'd been given to him, courtesy of Sarutobi. "Be right there old man!"

The door opened, no doubt picked with chakra. "I'm not that old kiddo."

The voice was unfamiliar, and Naruto quickly looked up, finding a smiling silver haired man.

"Uhhh...who're you?"

The man's face fell. "Woah, Tsu-chan warned me but that's a real kick to the gut kiddo. Its me! Dan.

Naruto blinked.

So this the one Tsunade had been so hung up on...

"I thought you'd be taller..." The blond found himself saying before thinking.

"Me too!" He shot back with an easy grin. "But alas humans don't grow on hopes and dreams. Which reminds me. Have you been eating fruits and vegetables like Tsu-chan told you last time we were here?"

"Uhh...I guess?"

"...You have that refrigerator stuffed with ramen don't you."

"There's cereal in there!" He defended.

-0-

Dan walked him to the academy.

It was...a novel experience.

And no that wasn't a euphemism.

It was actually a novel experience. He'd never had someone walk him to the academy grounds. The Hokage occasionally saw him before he left his apartment when he could spare the time but those times were few and far between and even then he had to head to the tower, not to the academy which was a bit out of the way from his destination, so having someone walk him the whole way there was a real change of pace.

And the company was actually nice to boot.

It didn't take him long to realize Dan was a joker, he always had a ready comeback or witty comment. It kinda reminded him of Jiraiya. Though Ero-sennin tended to be more dry sarcasm than witty quips.

"Ahh my two princesses." The silver haired man said, drawing Naruto's attention enough for him to find Tsunade and a _much_ younger Shizune.

"But I really am sick!"

"Oh bull-to-the-shit." The slug princess shot back! "You just don't wanna go on the first day!"

"We never do _anything _on the first day!"

"You get to say _Hi_ to all those wonderful people you'll be spending the rest of the year with."

"I say Hi to them all the time anyway! Its not like we can lose each-other inside this village."

"You get to say Hi to the teachers then."

"I don't _want_ to say _Hi_ to the teachers. That's half the objective here!"

"Tough luck then."

Huh...he didn't remember Shizune-neechan talking back to Tsunade...ever...even when she deserved it...

"Now now Shi-chan. You wouldn't want to leave Naruto here alone on his first day would you? What about all those voracious little aspiring kunoichi he'll have to contend with?"

Dan's voice announced their arrival to Shizune who turned around with a smirk for both of them. "Hey uncle Dan. Hi Naru-chan."

Her smile fell a bit when she noticed his sad face. "Huh? What's wrong?"

Naruto blinked for a moment, staring at her face, and struggled in those seconds struggled to push away the memory of her eyes open in death, of red blood staining her pale skin.

At those same eyes staring back at him from the opposite side of a battlefield...

He smiled as brightly as he could, greeting _this_ expression like...an _old _friend...one he hadn't seen or needed in a long time. "Hey Shizune-neechan!" He stepped forward and hugged her, barely reaching her waist as she patted his hair. A lump formed in his throat at the familiar gesture.

"Those Kunoichi will have to deal with me before Shizune gets a crack at them." He heard Tsunade vow, and heard the swat of her hand against Dan's arm. "And don't you go sticking ideas in his head either."

The man chuckled.

Naruto let go of Shizune before the hug became awkward, looking up at the building.

Was Iruka a sensei here yet? Or...was that not going to happen at all?

It'd been so long since he'd come around here...

It'd been so long since this place was around to come to.

He felt a hand on his shoulder, turning to see Tsunade standing beside him, a serious frown on her face. "You okay kiddo?"

Once more...he smiled. "Yeah...just nervous..."

Tsunade's frown grew a little deeper. "You can wait you know. I'll talk things over with Oro-kun and-" 

"No!" He interrupted, his voice pitching with the high notes of a four year old. "No. I can do it."

"We know you can."

This voice was familiar, and as far as he was concerned, still unwelcome.

The whole group turned to find Orochimaru standing not five feet away, seemingly conjuring himself from thin air, smiling with that serpentine upturn of his lips. "Have a little faith Tsu-chan." He drawled. "I wouldn't have nominated little Naru-chan if I didn't know he could handle it."

"He might be able to handle it but that doesn't mean he needs to! He's four!"

And Naruto could tell as the sannin shrugged that this was simply retracing the steps of an argument the two had held previously.

They were sannin...so neither of them would budge, one way or the other.

Orochimaru looked to him, his smirk becoming a little wider. "True. But it is his choice and... you and I can both see that he'll choose to go. Every time...

_-0-_

Shizune wasn't in his class.

He wasn't surprised. It was a four year program. Children entered when they were six or eight, took on the program for four years, graduated and became gennin. Shizune was on her last semester. He'd gotten in when he was six, being an orphan with no income outside of village funded programs and a trustfund left to the Hokage, he'd been eligible for the early enrollment.

It was a village hash tag to give orphaned children the "head start" of becoming Shinobi and getting paid as early as possible, a surefire way to keep themselves from starving.

In reality, it was the easiest source of new recruits considering how many orphans a military village had.

He'd failed the graduation exam twice and managed to get in on his third which is why his classmates and gennin team had been with people his own age.

This time though, this time he was starting absurdly early. The only person that had managed to get in this early was Hatake Kakashi and he was so good he'd managed to graduate in a _**single year. **_Getting on a team at age five! From what he could recall, the only one that could match that was Itachi and even he had gotten in at age six and graduated at age seven.

Hopefully, he'd be able to match Kakashi's little feat.

The way he saw it, if he could graduate by five, become a gennin, he could be a chuunin as early as six years old, and start training for the jounin trials to take them at eight or nine. With that rank it would be enough to wiggle himself into some of the village vaults to get access to techniques, techniques that would let him join the hunter nin squad by the time he hit twelve, which is when things _should_ start kicking into the proverbial high gear.

The hunter nins, were the elite of the elite. The best any village had to offer they were the ninja, _meant _to kill other ninja on a daily basis. Konoha, at the height of its power held somewhere around one hundred Gennin, three hundred and fifty to five hundred chuunin, about a hundred and fifty to two hundred jounin and seventy to one hundred Anbu, but they only ever had _twenty_ hunter ninja.

The reason for this was twofold. Firstly because they were just that strong and secondly because a hunter ninja's loyalty _must _be absolutely beyond question.

Given that they had to go on the most high risk missions, tracking down and killing other ninja, some of these A or even S class targets to bring in that money to the village coffers when they killed ninja from other villages that had posted the bounty, these ninja could be, and were in-fact authorized to be gone for **months** at a time.

Which would suit him perfectly.

With this plan...he wouldn't meet his friends...

Not until much later at any rate.

As it was he was staying as far away from Sasuke and Sakura as possible. Avoiding anything that might change _them!_ He wanted them...as close to what they were as he could get...

So he wouldn't meet them, any of them. But...he had to do this.

The kind of freedom the Hunter Nin enjoyedwas exactly what he needed to contact all the other Jinchuuriki, get a bead on Akatsuki and _**kill**_ Tobi!

This was the plan...now he just had to make it happ-

"Alright kids settle down." The teacher marched in, an older man with a salt and pepper hair and beard that kinda reminded him of Asuma-sensei's, only it went around his mouth too. "Some of you may notice we've gotten a new student, I'd like you all to give a warm welcome to Naruto-san here. He'll be with us for the next few years we hope."

_'Just one buddy.' _

The blond smiled, waving at a bunch of faces he didn't recognize. "Nice ta meet 'cha."

"Alright class I'll be passing you your class schedules, and programs. Each of you, for the next class must have read and at least be able to discuss the general theory behind the basic arts of Shinobi combat-"

As Naruto took his paper, droning out the teacher he read over the subjects, reassigning his own time period for mastering and learning these assignments.

-0-

"The Sharingan you say?" Sarutobi mused, not even looking up from his file, the stench of tobaco wafting up from his pipe to permeate the room.

"Or the Mokudon." The kunoichi replied. "He looked into the book last week, and since then his interest in both bloodlines has only increased. There aren't many public works on it, given how few ever faced either abilities and survived but he's digging them up, like he's looking for something specific."

"I wonder what that boy's getting himself up to...why would a four year old be so interested in the abilities of our late founders..."

"I don't know. Though for now, his interest seems to be little more than a passing fancy. I just thought you should know Hokage-sama."

Sarutobi nodded. "Good. Keep me appraised of anything more you find odd. The more information we have, the easier it may be for Inoichi to treat him should it ever be necessary.

"Understood sir."

The young woman turned, leaving Sarutobi to his files for the time being.

-0-

By the time the academy was over, Naruto was anxious to get back to his apartment in order to start the long road of getting his body back into some kind of shape. He'd gotten tired from running up and down stairs.

_**Stairs!**_

True, for his four year old self these stairs were about the equivalent to some tall sets of bleachers or something that he really had to lift his leg to get up over it but still...

Freaking _stairs_.

He needed to get back into shape and quick!

He moved to step out the door when he felt something tugging at his collar, holding him back from leaving, surprised he paused, turning to look over his shoulder to see young Shizune holding onto him.

"Where do you think You're going Naru-chan?"

Uhhh...home?" Why was she glaring at him?

"Nooooo...its your first day, that means you have to go get the school ID's. I knew you'd forget. That's why I came down here!"

"Yeah can I do that tomorrow? I'm kinda tired Shizune-nee."

"You should really get it today." She begrudged. "That thing's important and tells everyone you're a member of the academy to be allowed on school grounds. Without it some of the guards might not let you in if they think you're trying to spy on Konoha teaching methods."

He struggled not to snicker. Is that what they all thought when they were kids?

Yeah...heh...it kinda had been...

Spying on the academy.

Any spy that came back with the "important" Konoha academy teaching curriculum would probably get stabbed for incompetence. It was a tab on all prospective Shinobi so that strategists and mathematicians like Shika could properly determine Konoha's potential military growth based on statistical analysis.

Along with the academy passing average. If numbers weren't up to snuff, or if the gennin were coming out below standards those ID's and school records would be the first piece of evidence to be gathered really.

"I promise I'll get it tomorrow Nee-chan."

"Alright" she sighed before she reached around and coiled her arm over his shoulder to ruffle his hair. Come on, lets get something to eat then I'll walk you home.

He didn't want to waste time. He wanted to get the ball rolling and the faster he did that the better.

But...You never really know when the last "Next time" or "Rain-check" really will be the last one...

He'd learned that one the hard way.

He smiled, the warm display as pleasant as ever as he looked at this younger little stranger.

"Sounds great."


	5. Chapter 5

If there's one thing Naruto knew, it was that the Hokage had people watching him.

Most of the time it was for his own protection.

This time it was for both his protection and to keep an eye on any odd developments he might demonstrate after the 'incident' as Tsunade and Dan had taken to calling it.

One thing he couldn't afford was Jiji getting suspicious of him, it would cause him to waste too much time and would make things all sorts of complicated, too complicated.

So, obviously, he needed a place to get away from the prying eyes for a bit. Somewhere he could give his Anbu guards, wherever they were, the proverbial slip for a few minutes.

And this place was none other than his own bathroom.

It was the one place that none of his guards followed him, not only was it in the middle of the apartment so no one could really get in without walking through the walls and giving away their infiltration through the chakra spike such a technique would require, but there was the more obvious issue of _privacy_.

In a village full of people that could turn invisible, teleport, see through walls and find a million and one other ways to spy on you without being seen, it was almost an unwritten rule even without the hangups of basic human decency...

One Ero-sennin hadn't applied to the onsens in his own little version of the rulebook but, to digress.

He was now in his bathroom, doing something he was probably better at by this point, than breathing and walking at the same time.

Seals.

He was rapidly discovering that no matter how much he pushed himself there's only so much a four year old body is capable of. At the very best, he would barely be able to take on a seasoned gennin at this point. He was just too small, he didn't have enough power behind his limbs to throw a kunai or shuriken at blinding speed, or punch someone unconscious. A full on adult _civilian_ could take his blows with relative ease and his Chakra reserves were nowhere near where they were when he graduated the first time so even his ninjutsu arsenal was limited.

He was good enough to pass the academy, that was for damn sure, but not much beyond that.

But...if there was one thing he could still do, it was seals.

And seals were more useful than people gave them credit for.

He wasn't gonna do a lot, that would draw way too much attention. He wouldn't even do something that would be visible for a while.

He was gonna start to condition his body for nature chakra.

Nature chakra was a potent, powerful force no matter who wielded it. It wasn't on par with the power he'd wielded when he and Kurama were of one mind...nothing ever would be...but it was a weapon he still had available to him. One that when mastered, was damn near unstoppable.

The problem with nature chakra of course, was its inherent risk.

You turned to stone.

As a rule, you needed _massive_ reserves of human chakra to even attempt the technique, which was why it was so little known. Few ninja ever managed to have that much chakra, and those that did had other weapons in their arsenal that made this, little known hermit technique seem like a waste, especially given the amount of control needed, something that people of such reserves, didn't necessarily have in the first place.

When one first started training with nature chakra, that was the most dangerous part. Nature was everywhere, all around the person. So the moment one opened themselves up to that power, it was like opening a pair of massive floodgates and the whitewash is what normally took people completely by surprise and turned them to stone.

The key was, learning how to open those floodgates 'just enough' so as to allow the bodies own natural human chakra to "water it down" just right. Too thick and you're half an animal, too thin and its not having any effect.

There was no way he was gonna risk turning to a stone statue in the middle of his bathroom before he could even start getting ready for Tobi. He didn't have the chakra, he didn't have that stick to whack himself on the head, he didn't have anything.

All he had was a little seal that would act as a sieve. One that would _slowly... _trickle little droplets of that chakra into his system every day.

There was no guarantee it would have any long term effects, but at this stage, until time could bring about its natural changes he would hold out hope that _this_ thing would give him a bit of an edge when it was time to learn to do it properly.

He'd traveled through time on more farfetched hopes...

He finished with a bit of a flourish, blowing lightly on the ink that now decorated his shin to dry it. Few people would look there.

It was only a few seconds before he felt that familiar, welcome friend coursing through his veins again.

Lowering the leg of his pants back down, he flushed the toilet to finish the theatrics show before stepping out into the hallway ready to get some sleep.

He was gonna meet his last teacher tomorrow.

-0-

Seven months.

In seven months the boy had burned a way clear through the academy's curriculum. Passing every test ever placed in front of him with flying colors. It was only written exams that seemed to give him any pause, but tests of strength, skill and stealth, _especially _stealth, he seemed to push right through them as though he should be teaching the instructor.

There had only ever been a handful of exceptional academy students like this. The prodigal scion of the Uchiha clan heads being the most recent.

Hatake Kakashi was the one before him, driven to such lengths by his own intense drive to be better than his father, who had brought shame to the prestige of the Hatake clan name.

Sakumo himself was another exceptional student, but it had only been expected. The Hatake clan was one of the last to join the village system, the last vanguard of the old way, the times of endless, unremitting war.

Compared to that, the academy was probably a relaxing warm-up exercise.

There were a few others that had managed to demonstrate well enough aptitude to push through the academy in quick succession. Nothing nearly as exceptional as a single year, but in two, or so, give or take a month.

But one thing, Orochimaru knew was that each one of these people, that pushed themselves so hard had one thing in common.

A drive!

They were driven to such extremes. It wasn't by choice, it wasn't by mere, happenstance. They pushed themselves because _something_ made them believe that they had to do this. That they had something to prove, or accomplish.

With the Uchiha it had been a wish to get away from the clan. Fugaku was a strict disciplinarian even by clan standards, the young prodigy had sought the freedom of a gennin team, of missions that would extend their reach beyond the walls of Konoha.

The Uchiha had wanted an escape.

Hatake had wanted to outrun the memory of his father.

Sakumo had wanted to drive himself into the heart of Konoha and plant his clan's proverbial flag as to declare that even though he was not a founder of this village, none would look down or attempt to usurp the prestige of the Hatake a clan that had beaten back both the Senjuu and Uchiha's many times over the years...

But...for the life of him...he could not determine what it was that _drove_. Naruto.

And something was indeed driving him.

He stayed up all night studying ninjutsu scrolls, reading history books, sharpening his kunai, training. It was more than one occasion where Orochimaru and the Anbu guarding him felt compelled to put him to sleep with a genjutsu, ones that, every day were getting increasingly more difficult to pull off.

It would be years before he could, in actuality shrug off one of his sleeping illusions of course. But the fact that he was able to not only detect but offer at least a token resistance was _remarkable._

He was no slacker when it came to the subtle art of genjutsu.

But still, the driving force behind Naruto's sheer..._desperation_ in passing through this process as quickly as possible, or to be as strong as possible was one that he simply could not discern. Not only that but the ever present hostility he harbored towards him had not abated in the slightest. All his defenses came up like an iron wall whenever he even heard the sannin's voice.

Coming from a child, who's first impression was a toothless smile and a grubby, drool covered hand reaching for his hair; who with a giggle finally tugged on it hard enough to make him wince it was a startling change for him to witness.

In truth he was somewhat bothered by it.

Mostly because he knew just how easy such a look could grace many features.

He'd killed...a lot of people. Most Sensei knew about, and if he didn't Tsunade did...

But what he did in his professional life for the sake of the village...and worse...for his own ambitions had taken him to dark places...places he may not have crawled out of in one piece had it not been for key moments that had pulled him back from the precipice of oblivion he'd been standing on at points in his life.

If Naruto ever knew about those...then it would be very easy for him to look at him with those eyes.

Easy for him...for sensei...for a lot of people that halfway mattered.

And that did bother him in several ways. Not the least of which was that whomever had altered Naruto's memories _might_ have at least, an inkling...and to give those memories to a boy...who's to say he or she couldn't just go blathering on to everyone?

That worried him

Still they didn't know...for now at least...and he was grateful for that.

He picked up a file, one that was steadily growing in size since he started it seven months ago, pulling free the pad in order to jot down the notes of this last week.

_-Subject demonstrating remarkable aptitude for the academy stealth exercises..._

-0-

"Naru-chan!"

The second he walked into the class, he heard Shizune's voice, finding her at the top row, seated next to a handful of other students.

He smiled, waving, and smiling a little more when he realized she had reserved a seat for him.

Marching up he laughed as she ruffled his hair.

"This is totally unfair you know." She bemoaned. "I gotta sit here for four years and you just up and get through this thing in less than one."

"I'm just awesome that way..." He replied, showing off those pearly whites as he took his seat.

Yeah well we'll see how well you handle Zae-sensei. She's the toughest teacher here.

"Yeah right." Naruto scoffed. _She can't be on my case anymore than Iruka-sensei was when I was here.'_

Shizune offered a shrug, her face saying just how confident she was in the fact that Naruto would be eating those words.

"That him?" The voice brought Naruto's eyes to the other side of his adopted sister, looking at a rather scruffy looking Inuzuka kid. No jacket like Kiba, a bit thinner than he remembered Kiba being too...though...come to think of it that could have been the jacket. His dog was definitely a sight bigger than Akamaru had been, reaching the kids knee already, whereas Akamaru had been small enough to prop on Kiba's head.

He squinted at the four year old. "He don't look so tough..."

Shizune smacked him on the shoulder. "He's four. What the hell did you expect?"

Sticking his tongue out and making a face Naruto let some of his natural immaturity shine through as he joined the rebuke in his own way, out of sight of Shizune of course.

"He's supposed to be taller."

"And you're supposed to be smarter." She deadpanned.

Naruto helped by continuing to make faces.

Before anything more could be said the doors opened.

"Sit down all of you!"

The words weren't shouted, they were barely even heard all the way up top where he, Shizune and some of the other students were sitting, but never, in his life had Naruto ever heard a room go as quiet as a _crypt_ as fast as this room had.

Every student sat in their chairs like they were falling into a regiment's formation.

The woman that marched into the room was...not what Naruto was expecting.

She had something akin to a bowl cut hairstyle, like Gai or Lee, only long enough to reach down to her neck, chocolate brown hair, wrinkles that were as carved into her skin as Saru-jiji's, and the most distinguishing feature of all...

"She's practically shorter than me."

He hadn't realized that he'd spoken out loud until the room, as quiet as it was seemed to grow even _quieter_ somehow and every eye swiveled around to look at him...how this was accomplished without anyone moving a muscle he'd never know.

Zae, as he remembered her name, didn't seem to let it affect her at all as she marched up towards her desk, speaking. "It seems they taught you a good grasp of the obvious in the lower academy tiers Uzumaki, now lets see if we can teach you something a little above the level of potty training.

It was a joke. One that pissed him off but that he knew quite a few people would have been laughing at. Hell, he'd be laughing at it, if he wasn't the victim that is.

So why couldn't he even hear a snicker?

He couldn't hear of see _any _movement.

In-fact...the only thing moving in the room, unseen to all was Inu, who winced in his hiding spot, remembering just what it was to take class with this woman.

"Well...now that our introductions are all finished we'll all be heading outside for some weapons practice."

Now the class started moving, smiles flitting about here and there at the prospect of abandoning these books for a little while.

Smiles that were quickly wiped clean.

"But before we get to that boring old stuff we'll have a fun little pop quiz to get those minds working! Doesn't that sound nice?" Zae chirped with the most pleasant smile you could ever see on someone's face.

The groans seemed to feed that smile.

Naruto could somehow tell, this was going to be a very miserable three months.

-0-

At the end of the day, as they were all getting ready to head on home, Zae-sensei's voice cut through the classroom chatter as easily as it had at the start of the day. "Mr. Uzumaki please stay here for a moment I'd rather speak to you in private."

Shizune threw him an apologetic look, but he smiled and waved anyway, what was the worst a teacher could do to him really?

He sat and waited, student after student filed out as Zae-sensei gathered her own things getting ready to leave herself.

Finally, as the last of the student's left. "Sorry I called you short." He said.

"You didn't call me short. You called yourself short while comparing my height to yours. And there _is_ a difference." She replied, finishing gathering her things before she grabbed her papers and walked up to him.

She stared at him for a second or two before she pulled her glasses free from the bridge of her nose and wiped at them. "Now, I'm going to give you the same speech I've given to more students than I should have since I've been teaching here and I expect you'll, in the end, prove as stubborn as they were and give me roughly the same answer and quietly mutter about how I don't know what I'm talking about but- holding out on a prayer, here goes nothing. Might be, you're the first surprise. How bout you go out and _play _for a few more years, Hmmm?"

Naruto blinked, the question, put so strangely caught him a little flat, making him answer the first thing that came to mind. "There's no time for that!"

"Now, that's a curious answer, because now is the time for it. Later is when there won't be time! You're four years old, you shouldn't be in here training how to slice open a man's neck but out there-" She looked like she was about to go on something of a tangent when he interrupted.

"I'm not quitting." He appreciated the thought, really. But she just didn't understand, no one would understand that he really didn't have any _time_. Every second was precious.

She made a bit of a face, half exasperated, half resigned. "Well...at least you don't seem as stiff and boring as the last two of you that came through here. We'll see each-other tomorrow then."

Naruto nodded, hopping down from his seat to walk out of the class.

Zae waited for him to leave before turning her eyes to the side, peering into a corner of the room. "Kakashi"

She could almost feel said corner stiffen.

"Be a dear and do your old academy sensei a favor, could you get in contact with Oro-kun and tell him to get in touch? He never writes anymore."

There was silence for a moment before the corner spoke. "How the hell do you do that?"

She smiled. "Because my dear no matter how old you get you never forget the basics..."

She began to leave.

"I'm not boring you know!"

-0-

Ok, this chapter was short.

Why was it short?

Because I recently (yesterday) broke a knuckle in my right hand.

So seeing as how this chapter was 70% complete and the recovery is around 2 weeks and my right hand hurts just by twitching too fast, I decided to simply send this "as is" since I don't know when the hell I'd be able to finish between the recovery and winter celebrations and I didn't want to risk leaving it for a flat month without an update.

To my Souls of Heroes fans, that chapter is around 50% done, again, with the recovery time I'm not sure when it'll be released. The inspiration would have to push me to write it almost entirely with my offhand, if somehow that happens, well, it'll be out soon, same as with this stpries nextchapter if not we might be in a bit of a wait.

At any rate, as short as it was I hope you all enjoyed it regardless, R&R


	6. Chapter 6

It was three weeks before he actually started feeling the first of the effects.

He should have expected this really. It was one of the most significant benefits of using nature chakra in the first place.

You could detect _everybody. _

It'd be weird if he didn't remember what it was to feel the full effect of nature chakra coursing through his veins. I mean, in his perfected sage mode he could practically feel the fly that landed on the leaf a hundred yards away. He was in tune with nature, and that really didn't have a limit.

Here and now he could feel some of the chakra signatures around the village. Just a handful for now, the strongest were the ones that stood out the most. Tsunade he recognized immediately, Saru-jiji he had to wait till the old man had gotten to his office and stayed there for a while.

He found his Anbu too. She seemed somewhat familiar so he probably had sensed her somewhere specific during the war but his memory just wasn't being jogged. Maybe she'd guarded him back in his original time or something.

As he made his way to the academy he kept on trying to make use of this new little development, sensing the different people here and there and trying to recognize them. Later, with some practice, he'd make a point of pegging the chakra signatures of all the ones that were important to him. That way he could find them no matter what.

It was as he was thinking this, that he felt his Anbu escort with the familiar signature, suddenly fall back, and start turning away. It was a mystery as to why that was when his senses found another signature, this one suppressed, but quickly becoming more apparent to his new found sixth sense as it edged closer.

It made him smile

At least one of his old sensei were ok.

-0-

"Alright everyone settle down!" Zae raised her voice as the students all but stampeded out of the academy building into the adjacent training grounds. Nothing, not even she, could ever keep a class of academy students excitement completely suppressed when it came time for Taijutsu matches.

It was a practice reserved for the 4th year students about to graduate, the 4th year of course, being the most physically demanding of the curriculum. The other three years were devoted to the more mental aspects of the Shinobi profession. The only physical things done in the first two years was physical conditioning, exercises, tree jumping, handseal practice, etc. etc.

Actual Taijutsu, weapon and ninjutsu practice didn't see practical application until the third year, mainly it was practiced on the academy instructors.

It was in the fourth year when students were finally allowed in any official capacity to face off against each-other, that way the instructors could get a clear picture on who stood where in order to properly assign them to teams. The practice was done, normally three times a week, with the schedule randomized so the student's minds and bodies would get used to the prospect of fighting whenever it was asked of them.

Of course most kids performed to expectations, the notable Taijutsu powerhouse was, surprisingly not a clan kid, but an orphan. To be fair though most of the clans were missing from this year. No Aburame, Hyuuga, Yamanaka or Nara. The best ninjutsu kid was an Uchiha though, as far as Naruto could tell and the best kunai and shuriken flinger was, surprisingly, one of the two Akimichi of the group.

"Alright children." The diminutive teacher said taking her place at the side of the practice ring. "Lets all try to beat eachother with civility; Yes?" She drily quipped as she looked through the randomized lineup for today. "Gokyu Adou and Shizuka Moroi, please come on up so we can begin the _learning_."

"So who you gonna get paired up with this time?" Shizune asked, plopping down next to him to wait with everyone else.

"Dunno." That was mostly true. But while the roster was mostly randomized, he'd noticed that his opponents were getting tougher and tougher. His first fight had been against Naotora, the class dead last. She was brash and loud like him. But she'd underestimated him, as did 90% of the class, and he'd used that to catch her completely off guard. And since she was the "dead last" his next opponent didn't think much of the win.

And so on and so on.

Now they were catching on so that element was out.

But more than that he noticed that each of his partners was just that much more dedicated, that much faster, stronger or smarter.

Apparently, Zae was trying to climb him up the ladder to see where exactly he should fit when it came to team placements.

So no, he didn't _know _per-se who his next enemy would be, but he could guess that it would be one of the class mid-lings most likely.

Though she was starting to run out of time if that was really her game and it wasn't just random chance as they said. They only had a handful of days left.

"I know you don't know but come on take a guess or something Naru-chan." She ruffled his hair then he heard the sharp inhale from her on one side and footsteps to his other.

Turning to look he found none other than Uesu Taida.

The favorite for this year's top rookie.

He smiled. "Hey Taida."

The young man, smiled back. "Mind if I join you?"

He shifted a bit, shifting against Shizune to allow enough room for Taida to sit next to him.

He was big for a kid. The only classmate that matched his height was one of the two Akimichi, physically stronger than most kids their age too, though that came at a tradeoff of being somewhat slower than half the kids in the class too.

Though, truth be told given his family history that might not be exactly a bad thing.

While not of any Konoha clan, that did not mean the Uesu name was a run of the mill family.

It was a Samurai clan.

Samurai had always been the standing force of the Daimyo of the various states. As far as he remembered from his day, they never really played much of a part in the hidden village affairs. They were, frankly, glorified clients. Keep our borders safe from the other Daimyo, kill whoever we need you to kill without question and we'll line your pockets with enough money to keep this show running forever." Was the status quo.

This time around, the status quo was a bit more...skewed.

The first year curricula, in political and historical lessons had nearly held him back from meeting his own personal deadline of graduating in a single year.

While Ninja were a force to be reckoned with on any battlefield having unlocked the secrets of Chakra and the array of skills that came with such, Samurai were still very much the dominant military power of the continent.

One ninja was worth a handful of Samurai, but...there were a hell of a lot more Samurai than there were ninja in the Daimyo's employ.

Now, the Daimyo could do more than threaten them with cutting off the cash-flow. He could threaten them with war.

Or more likely extermination.

What's more, he could win.

It would be a brutal and bloody win for either side, that would effectively eviscerate both parties; leaving them as little more than carrion for the vultures that would swoop in from all sides to eat at the carcass, but now the Daimyo around the continent seem to have decided to hold onto some of their testicles when the villages were formed this time around.

That left them with some negotiating leeway.

One of those, in Konoha at least, was a student exchange program.

A child of a Samurai clan

A child of a Shinobi clan.

Leaving their homes to live and serve their new 'families' in whatever way was seen fit.

This was to 'promote a lasting peace, friendship, love and trust between the great houses'

Unofficially, it was the Samurai better preparing themselves for the eventuality of fighting Shinobi. If not domestic ones then definitely foreign.

No child from a Samurai clan would be taught the true fighting techniques of the Samurai beyond a handful of basics, when it came to sword wielding.

A child from a Shinobi _clan_ though especially Hyuuga and _Uchiha_...that one had some trade to show off when he went off to his new home. That one could answer questions and teach them.

Then, when the kids went back home, the Samurai kid had five years Shinobi experience and secrets under his belt.

The Shinobi kid had three years of philosophical study and two, at best, of sword combat training, since most Samurai started training their children at the ages of fourteen. Not exactly a huge amount of time to learn things from grand masters and such.

But oh well. Such is life.

Half the time the Samurai kid just ended up buying learning sword techniques anyway so Konoha wasn't exactly a victim that "lived up to their side of the bargain" either, at any rate.

Taida sat and Naruto resisted the urge to poke some fun at Shizune who, quite obvious to him had something of a crush on the guy. It would get him a few laughs, but she knew where he lived.

The fight was decent as far as academy level students go. Both of them had their strengths and tried to use them. But one good kick that smacked against a forehead downed Adou and that was that.

The other fights were, for the most part, much the same, a good lucky hit normally ended them. Rarely was the fight reduced to out-brawling the other and only the Akimichi ever got their opponents to yield, and even then, only when they managed to get them in a good hold, which by now many students had learned to avoid by any means necessary.

"Kato Shizune and Kanbei Shin, take your places." Zae finally called.

Shizune took a breath before standing. "Wish me luck."

Naruto nodded and smiled. "Good luck."

She marched down to the practice ring, standing opposite her opponent.

Kanbei wasn't anything particularly special from what he could tell, no real strengths, no real weak points either.

"Begin!"

Shizune opened up with a volley of practice shuriken a text book tactic to get her enemy off balance when she closed in and it worked well enough. The moment Kanbei used to dodge she was closing the distance, launching herself at the young man with a flying kick, knocking him flat on his ass despite his hasty defense with the unbalanced footing.

She jumped, looking to capitalize on her early advantage with a pounce to pin him to the ground only for the aspiring gennin to roll out of the way, kicking at her ribs with a clumsy kick that, never the less, hurt and knocked her on her side as both students scrambled to get back up.

-0-

The door was flung open with a crack that drove the knob into his wall.

"Was this your idea all along?"

Orochimaru turned around, looking up from his book as he raised a slender eyebrow. "You barging into my office looking for all the world as though you wish to strangle me? No I don't believe this was any _plan_ of mine."

"You haven't taken on a student in six years and suddenly you're applying to take a team!?"

He snapped the book closed, smirking. "You and sensei have been pestering me to take a more active role in the village for a while now, I figured why not start with this."

"Just as Naruto's about to graduate then?"

"Coincidence. Besides I placed myself on the reserves list. I'm just there to-"

"Convince whoever gets assigned as a sensei to his eventual team to step down so you can fill in the spot."

"Oh come now." He smiled blithely. "Where's the trust Tsu-_chan_?"

"Oh screw you."

He marched to a chair, seating himself on it as he tossed his book on the end table and laced his hands over his stomach. "What exactly are you complaining about?"

"That you're using Naruto as some kind of stepping stone Oro."

He pursed his lips, mulling over the thought, then he smirked. "I might be just a little bit guilty of such. But what exactly are you complaining about. I'm the best possible sensei in this village, just look at Anko-chan."

"She's one of our strongest whack-jobs; I'll give you that."

"We're _all _a little crazy Tsunade."

"He doesn't need you making it worse, or you making some kind of statement. And his teammates won't need you neglecting them in favor of the 'prodigy.'

"Which he _is. _The other students will get by, but the whole point of early academy enrollment is to bring those talents to their full potential."

"And then you wonder why I say Saru-sensei spoiled you rotten."

The sighed over-dramatically, smirking faintly as he saw how his actions irritated her. If there was one thing Tsunade hated it was being dismissed. "Oh well. I suppose I'll just have to shoulder the burden of sensei's partisanship. Is that all?"

"Don't make me kick you through the wall." She growled

He opened his eyes, looking up at her, just the slightest bit more serious, though the smile remained.

"You know how this is gonna end by now. You'll shout and scream and I'll ignore you completely and do whatever I want. If it comes down to a fight; We'll blow up half the village training grounds before sensei shows up to have us pulled apart where we'll get a 'time out' and a rather stern lecture regarding the woes caused by mass property damage; and then I'll _still_ do whatever I want. So can we skip all of that and just get to the, me doing whatever I want part?"

"You're an ass you know that?"

The smile spread. "I might be just a little bit guilty of such."

It was just a few minutes after she'd left that a familiar older gentleman opened the door to his office, in a similar fashion, driving the knob that much deeper into the cracked wall as he held an equally familiar application form. "Was this your idea all along?"

The sannin smiled, half frustrated, half sardonic. "No. I don't believe it was."

-0-

"Owwww."

"Big baby." Naruto teased.

She smacked him upside the head. "Shut up!" Then her hand returned to her jaw. "That really hurt."

He had no doubt, it _looked_ like it hurt. If she didn't live with Tsunade she'd probably be sporting an ugly bruise for the next week. As it was it'd be gone by tomorrow most likely.

She managed to win, but one really really good punch had nearly taken her out of the fight when half the class could have sworn her jaw had broken given the sound of the hit. To everyone's surprise, and his personal relief, it sounded worse than it was and she kept herself in the fight managing to carve out a win she landed enough hits to have Zae call the match in her favor.

Now they were down to just a handful more students and Naruto was starting to wonder when the hell he was going to be-

"Uzumaki Naruto and Uesu Taida please take your places!" Zae called, a hush leveling the area before each student began to murmur with one another.

Huh...Looks like she decided it best to work from the top to the bottom rather than the bottom to the top.

He stood up, listening as Taida did the same, both of them marching down to the practice ring.

When they arrived, Taida bowed at the waist. If there was one thing that could be said about the Samurai clan boy it was that he was polite and did his best to follow the traditions of his family.

Which meant his greatest strength was essentially Taijutsu. He aced all of his tests and written tactic exams, was slightly above average in accuracy, but, most likely due to his upbringing before coming to the village he didn't put as much effort in his ninjutsu, so that was just average.

Which essentially meant, especially due to his size, he had to use his ninjutsu to its fullest advantage over him.

He took his stance, the basic academy stance, Taida did the same though his was a bit more rigid in his foot positioning. He probably wouldn't use too many kicks if that was the case. So overcoming the taijutsu reach advantage wouldn't be impossible, just unlikely now.

"Begin!" Zae shouted.

With a handseal Naruto focused. "Bunshin no jutsu!"

He was never good at making a single, regular clone.

One hundred was an entirely different matter.

Within a second the academy practice grounds were covered from corner to corner in grinning blondes.

The students gasped, even Zae leaned forward in her seat, looking intently now at the fight.

Taida's eyes widened, but in quick motion drew his shuriken and began throwing.

A few of the clones dispelled as the weapons cut through the fragile illusion that formed them.

The rest charged!

To Naruto's surprise, Taida didn't choose to flee as most Shinobi would have done, trying to get to a more advantageous position, or even buy time in order to think of a plan.

He held his ground, bracing himself.

Charging in the middle of his clones, Naruto grinned.

It was a good plan.

He could think of more than a few ways to...kill his enemy, none would fail. He'd gotten too good at killing dead things that refused to stay down for an aspiring gennin to have a prayer, even with him like this.

But he didn't want a clean win. He just wanted to see how much work he still had waiting for him. How much distance he'd have to cross before he could even have a prayer.

The clones struck, and the blows passed him by, doing no damage and merely dispelling themselves with the fragile break.

Until finally there was one solid kick across his face that nearly knocked him over.

Until his hand snapped forward and grabbed the owner of the offending limb.

With a brutal punch to the stomach that knocked the wind out of him, and a followup that hit him about as hard as Shizune's opponent had hit her striking him across the cheek, Naruto scarcely had time to catch his breath before he was thrown onto the ground with a solid thud.

Not even fast enough to avoid an academy student...

He recovered and looked up as Taida pounced, looking to pin him to the ground and get the win.

And for a moment, he was not in the academy training grounds. He was not facing an all too polite exchange student. He was not in a friendly test.

He was in a battlefield. The screams of dying, wounded men rising up to a crescendo of noise around him, a hurricane of sound that clawed at his ears as he looked up at the lone sharingan eye spinning in its iris, the crackle of lightning _roaring_ over the battlefield noise as Konoha's last Hokage rushed in for the kill, the howling of a thousand birds meeting the unrelenting force of a Rasengan before his own deathblow came at the hands of a tearful Sakura, his body sealed and burned by his remaining student.

The Last Hokage...the first of Team seven...

His chakra surged, taking form in his hand, the shape of a whirling sphere coalescing into the faintest silhouette before he caught himself, blinked. The memories of a dead man in a dead future vanishing like the ghosts of shadow and he stops holds back from the deadly blow. from sheer..._reflex._

He vanishes in a puff of smoke.

Leaving only an academy standard explosive trap at his feet.

Taida's eyes widened, his legs bracing to move when the thing exploded in a massive cloud of smoke, leaving him sputtering and hacking up a lung.

"Gotcha!" The students heard through the cloud before Taida stumbled out of the impenetrable smoke, still hacking up his lungs with tears leaking from his eyes.

"Match." The students heard Zae shout before a quick E rank wind jutsu did its work to blow the cloud away, revealing Naruto sitting at the edge of the ring, grinning from ear to ear despite the bloody lip.

Soon enough the muttering of the other students began and Zae clapped thrice to get them all to calm down. She looked tense, her lips pursed a bit more than usual as she looked them over. Naruto didn't dare look up, worried that if he did, and she'd seen that second...that moment...if she'd felt the killing intent, his look would be all the confirmation she needed. "Alright students, we're done for the day now I suggest you all go home and enjoy your weekend. Next week will be your last before the final examinations and we see which one of you made it. Good luck." And with that the teacher began to gather her things.

Taida made his way over still coughing a bit, his eyes still red from tearing up. "A good match." The raven haired youth said, bowing at the waist, smiling as he straightened. "If that had been actual explosive tags..."

_'You'd be dead in that case too.' _ The faux four year old grinned once more, this...damn smile slipping on so very easilly all over again.. "Hah, that was fun! I want a re-match!"

Taida's smile grew a bit, holding just the slightest bit of bemusement. "You are rather odd Naruto-san."

-0-

By the time he got back home Naruto was full and satisfied. Tsunade had picked him and Shizune up, healed their cuts and bruises and then treated them to an early celebratory lunch.

Three more days and he'd find out who exactly he was getting on a team with. He'd be a gennin, one step closer to hunter nin.

When he stepped into his home, it was to be greeted by the now, familiar sensation of his nightly watcher already in wait and Kakashi-sensei leaving, with his shift now done with her arrival.

It was a moments curiosity that wormed its way into his brain, idly trying to think of who she was. The signature was familiar but strangely alien...

As he went about his nightly routine, getting ready to sleep, that idle curiosity kept on gnawing at him, getting just a little bit stronger. A little bit more irritating.

Finally, as he was about to step into bed he realized something.

Why the hell doesn't he just ask?

And so with a sharp about face, he follows the signature, marching out of his room and down the hallway towards his potted plant.

He stretches out his hand.

And with a glimmer in the air, the genjutsu falls away, revealing the woman in an Anbu mask.

She's surprised...any Anbu would be really.

But still he can't recognize her behind the mask.

He smiles up at her.

"Hi! I'm Naruto! What's your name?"

She tilts her head to the side. Looking at him as though she is the most curious of hawks. One that had just found a rodent willing to walk up to it in order to curiously sniff at its talons.

In a way, he rather supposed he was.

-0-

Whelp its been a while, my knuckle's better so typing is manageable now as opposed to searing pain lancing up and down my arm every time I reached for the 'E' key.

So yeah, this is the other half of the previous chapter, next chapter is team assignments and the gennin test.

Hope you all enjoyed it.

PS. I'll try to get to souls of heroes soon.

PSS. Happy new year to everyone out there


	7. Chapter 7

She didn't tell him her name.

It'd taken almost five minutes for him to get more than a _'Go back to sleep Uzumaki-san.'_

The conversation was short, clipped, a little awkward, and a little amusing from his perspective.

He supposed he should have expected such, she was probably still reeling at the fact that he had found her at all.

But still...she didn't give him her name...

So he just called her An-chan.

He'd nearly made Kakashi trip out of his tree when he called him Bu-san the next day.

Either the two of them were too embarrassed to say that they'd been caught, or Jiji had decided to take on a wait-and-see- approach regarding this little development.

Kakashi could still hide from him with a little more effort though. He did it the next day. He was good enough. An-chan always had just a little bit of her chakra exposed though. Just enough for him to pick up her signal.

Still, this livened up his days a little. For nearly the last week every day he'd go out to do some training, and now had the full and unbridled capacity to ask Kakashi for advice whenever he found him. Which happened to be whenever Kakashi didn't want to put in the full effort to hide well.

So with the Anbu, having no orders to do the contrary, and not being a big enough ass to ignore him completely (not having his book helped in this last bit) reluctantly gave a little advice and even showed him the basics of an Anbu chakra control exercise when he noticed that such was what Naruto was primarily working on.

Then at night, when he'd get home he'd make dinner for himself and An-chan, something that primarily consisted of ramen. All the while he would talk her ear off, hoping to get a word of response but mostly just talking to her while she just stood there.

She never ate a bite of the food while he was awake but it was always gone by the time he woke up. He hoped she wasn't just throwing it away.

Tonight was the last night before the team assignments and he was practically bouncing off the bloody walls. Just one more day and he'd be a gennin again, step one would be finished with.

He finished off his shower drying himself off before he dressed and stepped out of the bathroom. He was five now so justJust one more year before he wouldn't need to use that thing anymore.

He sensed as Kakashi left and An-chan arrived.

"An-chan!" He called, smiling. The woman didn't even put up the pretense of stealth anymore, marching in through his front door, judging by the sound.

He marched out of his bathroom, stepping out to the hallway where he found, much to his surprise, his dining table overlaid with a number of bags, stuffed with food.

"You cannot keep having Ramen every day?" The flat drawl brought his eyes over to her, standing in a corner halfway across the room, cloaked from head to toe as if she'd never moved. It was impressive considering his whole table was full of stuff.

"Oh come on, I make good ramen!"

"Not anymore you don't." She answered in a, to all senses, completely impassive tone. But Naruto recognized smug satisfaction a mile away and his danger senses were tingling.

He blinked, confused for a second before he paled, bolting out of the room and into the kitchen.

It was a moment later when half the neighborhood was woken up by his anguished cry of despair.

-0-

"I hate you." He hissed, stuffing the last of the groceries into its proper place in his now...empty empty cabinets.

"I'll live." She replied from the other room.

He huffed, staring up at the assortment of foods. "What am I supposed to maaake?"

"Food."

"Everyone's a comedian or something." He muttered to himself. Between Zae, Dan and now An-chan he was getting rather tired of witty retorts and dry sarcasm.

He looked up again, pulling out a bag of rice and then picking out some meats from his freezer.

A little while later he set two plates down on his table, already knowing An-chan wouldn't eat now, but leaving it out for her anyway.

The chicken was a bit saltier than it should be, and the rice a little undercooked but not bad for a first try if he did say so himself.

It was edible at least.

And this time it didn't end with a burnt refrigerator, exploding toaster and an electrical fire in the bathroom...

"Hey An-chan." He called. "Any idea who's gonna turn out to be my sensei tomorrow?"

"None." She answered truthfully. "You'd be better off asking Bu-san."

He was about to ask who the hell that was when he recalled that was the very name he'd placed on Kakashi to keep up appearances.

"I guess. He'd see more of the academy since he's around during the day."

She said nothing to that.

Finally he was done, hopping off his chair, he took his place and marched onto the stool to wash it in the sink before putting it away.

He marched right up to his night time watcher, smiling at her.

"Night An-chan."

She nodded.

He leaned forward and hugged her. Once more he got that feeling of being a mouse beneath the gaze of the hawk. One that was beginning to wonder why its talons hadn't carved their way through soft rodent flesh yet.

He giggled letting her go and heading off to bed.

The next morning the plate was empty.

-0-

"Alright then class." Zae called clapping thrice as she set her books down on the desk. "Today is the last day! And all of you will now be assigned to teams where you'll most likely be paired up with at least one member of this class who you can't stand and you'll all have to look at eachother and work together every day for the next few years. Aren't you all excited?"

Naruto fought down a snicker. That was fairly accurate all things considered.

She left out the part of how the teams eventually grow to consider each-other family though...

"Alright now lets get this started Team one-"

"This is so exciting!" Shizune whispered beside him and he has to smile a little more. He could barely remember the day he was assigned to teams. But he did remember the excitement, the anticipation rushing through his limbs.

He keeps that moment for as long as he can; grips it. Every good memory is something he tries to hold onto as much as possible.

Otherwise the bad ones will overwhelm him when those moments come where he can't just...block them out anymore...

And those moments are there, circling like ravenous wolves, waiting to sink their fangs deep into his flesh.

"Team four-" Zae calls. "Kato Shizune, Inuzuka Katsuye and Yoshinari Itsue. Your sensei will be Muneyori Oshika."

"Oh, that's me! That's me Naru-chan." She hugged him, so suddenly he almost slid off his chair as she squealed into his hair.

He was happy for her.

It seemed for a moment she was torn between hugging him and waiting out for his own team to be announced and leaving with hers.

Soon enough though, she left with hers.

"Team eight. Naruto Uzumaki-"

His ears practically swiveled forward to hear better.

"Naotora Ryoko and Koritsuru Hachiba."

_'Ryoko.' _ He thought, turning to look at the girl he'd beaten in the practice ring just a few weeks ago, his first opponent in it. The class dead last.

That means that-

"Congratulations Mr. Uzumaki you've not only managed to graduate within a year but you also managed to snag the top spot." Zae remarked.

"_As expected of my future student." _A voice hissed from somewhere behind him.

Naruto's blood went cold at that unmistakeable voice.

_'No...'_

Turning to look at the back of the class Naruto found none other than the snake sannin morphing out of a wall, smirking at him.

-0-

The first words out of Naruto's mouth the second he got to the designated meeting place at the village edge was a vehement query.

"Was _this_ your idea the entire time?"

The snake sannin paused, lips pursing, almost in displeasure for a moment before he schooled his features. "Does it matter?"

He guessed it didn't. He was still stuck in the same boat regardless. And it'd been him that had showed off his "memories" to get Orochimaru to nominate him. He _knew_ that there was an ulterior motive. He just assumed it was glory seeking at nominating a strong candidate for the academy, not to actually be his sensei and take even greater glory when he assumed the credit for having taught said strong candidate.

He guessed the motive, he'd just deduced the wrong method.

"So you're really gonna be our sensei then?" Ryoko asked staring up at the man, not with a little bit of awe. While Orochimaru was a known recluse in the village, his prowess as a ninja was known world wide.

He wondered how long it would be before everyone knew him as a sicko and a power mad lunatic.

"Sweet! We're getting the best of the sannin as our sensei!" Hachiba grinned, adjusting his new forehead protector.

Orochimaru's smile seemed innocent enough but it made Naruto's skin crawl all the same. "The best? Perhaps. But my teaching you remains to be seen team eight."

The two gennin looked confused before the sannin clarified. "The academy merely judges if you children have the faintest potential to actually _become_ gennin. _I _am the one that gets the final say on whether they were right or wrong today. So, you're going to take something of a test..."

"What kind of test?" Ryoko grinned. "We'll beat it no problem if it gets you as our sensei."

Now his smile was clearly predatory, even to them. "We'll see..."

-0-

It didn't take him long to realize where they were headed. He should have expected it really.

The first place he met this bastard is the place where he decides to hold his gennin test.

Training ground 44, better known as the Forest of death, loomed over them like a monolithic beast in its own right.

"We're going in there?" Hachiba asked.

As an answer, Orochimaru forms two clones each one grabbing a gennin by the shoulder as he places his hand atop Naruto's head before the youth can react.

Then they're gone in the blur of a shunshin jutsu!

When they appear again, they're in the very heart of the forest, thickened trees hundreds of feet high blot out the sun, a dreary gloom hangs over the place like a pall.

"This is your test." The serpent says as his shadow clones dispel and he takes a few steps forward, away from them.

Naruto looks around, searching for danger while trying to keep his eyes fixed on the snake.

Ryoko is the one that begins to ask. "What exactly are we-"

"Surviving."

Suddenly, all three feel a sharp, burning agony lance up their legs. They each scream and Naruto has enough speed to look down in time to see a snake slithering into the grass, two puncture marks standing out on his clothed calf; the stain of blood darkens the fabric of his pants.

"You have three days." The sannin said bringing all three students eyes up towards his smiling veneer. "Make it out of this forest alive...and you're my students. Fail and...well...that should be obvious considering you've just been poisoned."

"Are you insane!?" Hachiba shouted.

"You can't be serious!"

Naruto drew his kunai and charged and attacked, all his suspicions proven in an instant!

Orochimaru _moved. _His eyes could barely follow the movement before his arm was snagged in an iron laced grip. The sannin's strength seemed brutally unreal as the pale man painfully twisted his arm to _just_ before the point of breaking it.

With a single twitch it would snap.

With a different one it would dislocate.

"Not nice Naru-chan." The serpent hissed in that slithering voice as he looked to his other two students. "Three days!" He repeated. "Then you're beyond saving."

Then he was gone, releasing Naruto before he melted into the shadows of this forest like a specter.

-0-

The snake sannin chuckled as he emerged from his shunshin.

The looks on their faces...

"Was this your idea the entire time?"

"Oh for gods sake!" He snapped, whirling on the intruder that appeared in a similar shunshin technique, only to reveal Sarutobi's head Anbu.

"Hatake." He all but growled. The next person that asked him that question was going to get hurt. _Badly._

"That poison non-lethal?" He trailed off, but the warning was obvious.

"Something of my own brew." He said, smirking a bit. He always did enjoy seeing his own work in its full splendor. "They'll certainly _feel_ like they're dying."

The silver haired ninja nodded. "What exactly is the test about? Why not just go with Sarutobi's bell test?

The sannin snorted. "Bah! You'd have them chase you around with such a simplistic goal? No." He chuckled. "What brings about _truth_ in anyone, isn't a goal, and it isn't a mission." His eyes gained something of a distant look, the smile evaporating and Kakashi had to wonder just where he'd ventured down into his memories.

"Its _fear-" _He finally said_. _"-and facing _true_ danger. Watch and learn Hatake. This is how Shinobi of Konoha are to be tested!"

-0-

"He can't be serious! He's not serious is he?" Hachiba shouted, almost sounding histerical.

"I'm not waiting to find out if he is!" Ryoko replied, raven hair whipping around as she turned to and fro, seemingly searching for a direction to move in.

"South." Naruto growled, rubbing his arm.

"What?" She asked, whirling around to look at him.

"We gotta go south." He answered "This place is north of the village!"

"Sounds good to me!" Hachiba readily agreed.

"You sure? This had better not be you trying to look cool or something Uzumaki!"

"I'm sure." He shot back. This place was too troublesome, twice over in order for him to forget where the hell it was. Twice the snake had screwed him and his team over here. That was two times too many! The second he had the strength to do it he was shoving a Rasengan down the sannin's throat!

"Better be!" She snapped.

It wasn't long before they were running through the trees.

-0-

From places hidden, Kakashi watched Orochimaru's smile grow a bit.

"Not a bad deduction from Naruto" The Anbu surmised. "Still." He looked around. "I recognize this place, we're at the northern edge of the forest, almost three days travel exactly from the forest to the village edge, and that's if you have a clue as to where you're going. Did you set them up to fail or something?"

The sannin smirked.

-0-

It was just beginning to approach sundown when the three gennin could no longer shrug off the truth.

They felt horrible.

It had started with coughs, from there, an all too dry throat, rashes breaking out over their flesh and nausea churning their guts.

They each knew it would only get worse.

To his shame, Naruto was the first one that made the others stop.

He was smaller, his metabolism was faster with his healing, the poison was affecting him at nearly twice the rate of his teammates.

He tried to keep pace regardless until finally, his legs failed him on a jump, and he nearly plunged to the forest floor to break a limb, or his neck, it was only the fact that he knew how to stick to a tree that saved him.

"You okay!?" Hachiba called a moment later as he came to a stop on another branch.

Naruto actually had to take a moment to catch his breath before he could even think about answering. His heart was pounding so hard it felt like it was trying to hammer its way out of his rib cage.

"He's '_the great Uzumaki.' _He'll be fine." Ryoko mocked through hard labored breaths. "We're the one's that'll keel over neh?"

"This isn't the time for goddamn jokes!" Hachiba growled "We have to keep moving."

Naruto looked up at the sun, now red in the sky.

"No." Ryoko hissed, taking a seat as Naruto managed to gather the strength to pull himself up to the branch he'd been hanging off of. "We've got to get food and make some kind of camp before the sun sets!"

"Make camp!? To what? Sleep!?"

"Yes numbnuts we need that, we also need to get food!"

"We could be almost out of here! We have to keep on moving!"

"No! We have to make camp because if we keep on going and we're still stuck here later it'll be too dark to see, and we'll be tired, poisoned _and _hungry!"

-0-

"The boy panics" Orochimaru observed.

"He's a gennin. Surprised he hasn't burst into tears by now. The girls keeping her cool well enough though."

The pale man nodded. "Indeed. I wonder just how she is considered the dead last."

"Overconfident as hell, didn't study and sucks for everything but Taijutsu, even that is just street brawling more than anything else."

"Orphanage recruit?"

"Close enough. Fathers' a trader, travels constantly almost never in the village. Mothers a...lover of fine wines to put it politely."

Orochimaru smirked "Old Zae must be losing her touch."

"Difficult to teach when they refuse to listen."

-0-

They made camp, such as it was, Naruto, allowing nature chakra to guide him as best he could with his lack of practice, found a hollowed out, dead tree, big enough for them to use. He was relieved when Ryoko and Hanbei volunteered to go get food as opposed to gathering firewood.

Right now, though he hadn't said anything, he could barely see straight, let alone take down an animal big enough for all of them to eat.

And he was only feeling worse.

_I'll feel better with some food and sleep.' _ He thought to himself, his headache pounding across his forehead.

He could not...he _could **not**_ die here! He _had_ to survive this! There was so much he had to do still...

He moved about gathering dry leaves and twigs for the kindling. The forest of death had plenty of those, so thankfully he didn't have to expel too much effort

All n all, with his small hands and waning strength, it took three trips to gather an amount he thought would be enough to last them the night.

The sun had set before his teammates got back.

Hachiba managed to get three squirrels...Ryoko just caught a single snake.

Hers was the more satisfying meal in his personal opinion.

"Can he really do this!?" Hachiba suddenly asked as they ate. "This is crazy! He can't just...kill fellow leaf ninja!"

"Never...trust...a snake." Naruto wheezed, eyes drooping a bit despite his effort to finish the meal.

"Thought he was your special mentor or something Uzumaki." Ryoko hissed, biting into a rather tasteless piece of meat, the forest of death didn't offer much in the way of seasoning.

This time, strained as the words were, the hostility was unmistakeable in his tone, even if his words hadn't portrayed it just as easilly. "Kill him...one day."

She opened her mouth as though she was about to say something more when she finally took a good look at him. "Hey, hey you okay? Hey!"

But his world went dark and the two gennin had to actually scramble to keep him from tipping face first into the open fires.

Ryoko gnawed on her lower lip as she and Hachiba settled Naruto back, watching him convulse on the ground as his eyes rolled so far back only the whites could be seen and blood began leaking from his nose.

"Shit he's dying! He's really dying!" She screamed, holding him down for lack of anything better to do."

"No shit he's dying! He's half our size!" Hachiba shouted right back.

They held him down, every second bassing in unimaginably slow agony for all huddled within that little hollow.

It seemed an eternity before he finally settled.

"What the hell are we gonna do?" Hachiba groaned, rocking a little where he sat, he probably didn't notice.

Her mouth was dry as she answered, feeling her own heart pounding with adrenalin fueled fear. "We're gonna go to sleep for a few hours...wake up, and carry him out of here the rest of the way that's what! Then when we get back, we're getting Hokage-sama to hold down that snake bastard so we can cut his balls off and feed them to him.

Despite her bravado, her shaking hands and pale features showed just how rattled she really was.

Despite how much they needed it, neither child got much sleep that night.

And the next morning, Naruto was as pale as a corpse.

His breathing didn't sound much better than a dead man's either.

Worst of all, he wasn't waking up.

-0-

Orochimaru smirked, Kakashi had long since left and his replacement was keeping to herself a ways off after Kakashi had briefed her and told her not to interfere.

The poison had worked its way through Naruto's system even quicker than he'd hoped.

Now lets see how they do.

-0-

Whelp here we are. Souls of heroes is about halfway done and should be my next update either way, hope you all enjoyed this piece, short as it was.


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